Exploring Ideas About Lucid Dreaming States

There are many films exploring the idea of lucid dreaming, a state in which a sleeping person realizes he or she is asleep and is then able to control the direction the dream takes.

In "The Matrix," dreamers were able to fly through the air and manipulate objects. In "Waking Life," they talk about dreaming within the dream world and practice exercises like consciously flipping light switches. In "The Good Night," Martin Freeman tries to master lucid dreams to escape to a more sensual world.

People who really want to grasp the concept of lucid dreams can do so by reading books such as: "Lucid Dreaming for Beginners: Simple Techniques for Creating Interactive Dreams," "Between the Gates: Lucid Dreaming, Astral Projection and the Body of Light in Western Esotericism," "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming," Adventures Beyond the Body: How to Experience Out-of-Body Travel" and "Conscious Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life."

There are also online chats or cyber conferences with the International Association for the Study of Dreams. People who are really motivated may attend a nine-and-a-half-day lucid dreams instructional retreat from www.lucidity.com in Hawaii.

"REM-sleep dreams are much more visual," said Matthew P. Walker, the director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. "They have a strong narrative that runs through them.

They're hallucinogenic." During REM, the logical lateral prefrontal cortex part of the brain becomes inactive, while the visual and emotional centers of the brain amplify. According to Dr. Walker, individuals enter into lucid dreaming states when the lateral prefrontal cortex begins to awaken again, triggering lucidity. "

In the next five years, I think somebody will demonstrate that," the dream research expert explains.

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